Despite The Rundown not doing as well as expected, Entertainment Weekly recently stated that the Rock remains in high remand for future movies. The reason for this is because leading men in Hollywood are bringing in less than they used to. The Rock also is getting paid very well. He got $12.5 million plus a percentage of profits for The Rundown and will get at least $15 million for Walking Tall.

OK, 2 questions:

1. Why would he EVER come back to wrestling?

2. What's more shocking, him making $15 mil or Ben Affleck making $15 mil?

By the way, Storm's gimmick includes 1.) telling the audience to shut up, and 2.) occasionally making everyone stand for the Canadian national anthem. You know they don't know what to do with a wrestler when he's making fans stand for a national anthem. It's like waving a white flag and saying, "This guy has no personality -- we give up."

Originally posted by dr beavishe needs wrestling and wrestling fans more than ever with the way the rundown flopped. if he chalks up another bomb with walking tall, how in demand is he going to be then?

Originally posted by dr beavishe needs wrestling and wrestling fans more than ever with the way the rundown flopped. if he chalks up another bomb with walking tall, how in demand is he going to be then?

Jesus ... another bomb? ... what are you people? ... on dope!

'The Rundown' was not a bomb ... sure it didn't gross as much domestically as hoped, but hello, foreign box office counts for something, as will DVD sales & rentals ...

so how much does DVD/video/cable ppv bring in? I'm sure the accountants will find a way to say it lost, and the producers may agree it was a disappointment that it didn't make $150 million in box office, how bad is it?

Did I read a while back that the Rock is also working on a King Kamehameha role? Haven't heard much on that for quite a while, is this project still on?

Finally, the King has come back, to Honolulu....

I didn't go out of my way to see the Rundown, but I will make a point to go see Walking Tall. Kick ass role for the Rock, hopefully the updated script and the rest of the cast will make it a fun ride...

Let's not forget that Rocky's also got "Spy Hunter" lined up. Wonder how much he's making on that one?

Edge: So Triple H wants me to come to Raw and fight him for the big gold belt. I've TOTALLY passed you on the card.Jericho: Yeah, but while Triple H is burying you, I get to make out with Trish in front of millions. You tell ME who the winner is here, junior!

The Rundown hasn't even opened in the UK yet. Whilst the movie may be currently running at a loss it still hasn't been launched in other markets. After UK cinema revenue, rental revenue and the sale of the movie in stores coupled with revenue from the other markets where it hasn't opened such as the rest of Europe, i'd estimate that the movie will make a profit.

Originally posted by dr beavishe needs wrestling and wrestling fans more than ever with the way the rundown flopped. if he chalks up another bomb with walking tall, how in demand is he going to be then?

Originally posted by dr beavishe needs wrestling and wrestling fans more than ever with the way the rundown flopped. if he chalks up another bomb with walking tall, how in demand is he going to be then?

Why the hell are you saying he 'needs' wrestling more than ever since his movies are flopping? The man is a multi-millionare and could sit on his oddly-hairlined bum for the rest of his life and burn hundreds if he wanted to.

I just did some quick checking around, and as of now The Rundown has made $47,592,825 domestically, and $5,928,591 internationally, with most of the major markets opening in March. (note: some of the markets are reporting figures, but studio tracking has not officially announced them yet) With $53,521,416+ in the bag already, this film is easily going to cover costs, and turn a nice profit which both The Rock and Vince McMahon get a cut of (Vince is an EP for the film). This was discussed a while back in a thread that I started when Meltzer first called the movie a bomb. Truth of the matter is, its doing just fine.

Of course the projected homevideo sales/rentals are somewhere near the $40mil mark, and that's just domestically.

The intangible here is that The Rock got tons of glowing reviews for his performance in the movie -- not the type of thing usually said about the Jean-Claudes of Vin Diesel's of the world.... He's already proven to be a hit on the talk-show circuit as well. I'm not saying either of these things make up for a bad run at the box office, but I don't think Hollywood is ready to give up on the guy, either.

With, what, four more movies scheduled for the next couple of years, its safe to say that he'll be fine if at least one of those films does well. Plus, its not like The Rundown did bad, even if it hasn't been able to turn out a profit just yet. Video sales could turn the whole thing around...

Originally posted by dr beavishe needs wrestling and wrestling fans more than ever with the way the rundown flopped. if he chalks up another bomb with walking tall, how in demand is he going to be then?

Why the hell are you saying he 'needs' wrestling more than ever since his movies are flopping? The man is a multi-millionare and could sit on his oddly-hairlined bum for the rest of his life and burn hundreds if he wanted to.

right, and i'm sure that's exactly what will happen. he'll walk away a failure because, hey, he has money.

are some of you in denial? movie studios don't put out films on the chance that there will be good sales when it's eventually released on video. the rundown was in no way, shape, or form a box office success. if it can manage to break even though overseas totals, that still isn't a success. it just means they didn't lose money.

walking tall is shaping up to be an even bigger disaster. at least the rundown had star power, with sean william scott and chris walken and rosario dawson. and it was an original movie. walking tall will live or die on whether people want to pay to see the rock act.

of course he needs wrestling fans. why do you think he's popping back up in wwe? when the rock was promoting the rundown, he said he couldn't see himself being back in wrestling for the forseeable future. then after the rundown fizzled, he shows up back on raw and makes plans to be part of wrestlemania. walking tall opens in the spring. do the math.

Originally posted by dr beaviswalking tall is shaping up to be an even bigger disaster. at least the rundown had star power, with sean william scott and chris walken and rosario dawson. and it was an original movie. walking tall will live or die on whether people want to pay to see the rock act.

Secondly, there's a few more factors at work here than you realize. The Rundown was made for a budget of around 85 million, which it is poised to not only recoup, but turn in a 100% profit. (credit: Video Digest). Like it or not DVD sales do count for quite a bit of money. A comparable title to Rundown would probably be something along the lines of XXX or The Bourne Identity. XXX has drawn $157.6 million dollars on DVD, and Bourne has brought in $171.2, and that's just domestically. Walking Tall's budget is 56 million, 65% less than Rundown. Now, Tall's theatrical run is slated to rival that of Rundown, with as many prints being distributed as the previous release, and in my opinion a much more extensive ad campaign already in full swing.

I'll concede that The Rock's upcoming wrestling appearances can only help his film get off the ground, but even if the Rock didn't go to 'Mania Tall would do just fine. His Q rating is one of the highest of any male actor right now, with more people being able to identify The Rock than Donald Rumsfeld.

The way it stands now, Walking Tall is more likely to be a hit than The Rundown was. And despite what some may think, The Rundown was not a flop by any streach of the imagination.

I saw a documentary a while ago which if i remember right pointed out that the box office gross includes the cinemas share and so on. Taking that and the cost of advertising into account means that a film has to make four times it's budget to break even, $340 million in this case.

Furthermore it's not like The Rundown is the only movie that will be released on DVD. All the movies that did make a lot of money in U.S. cinemas will also have their overall take increased, so it was still a relative failure.

Listen, I'm using numebrs and facts to back up my arguement, and all anyone else has been able to bring back at me is they "think" this or that about the movie industry. Well, I work in the movie industry, and am using the same forecasts studio experts are looking at, and they all say the same thing. The Rundown was a moderate success. This is what Hollywood is looking at. This is why The Rock is getting paid big money for upcoming movies.

"Listen, I'm using numebrs and facts to back up my arguement, and all anyone else has been able to bring back at me is they "think" this or that about the movie industry. Well, I work in the movie industry, and am using the same forecasts studio experts are looking at, and they all say the same thing. The Rundown was a moderate success. This is what Hollywood is looking at. This is why The Rock is getting paid big money for upcoming movies."

Listen to this man, people. Studios DO look at DVD/video sales/rentals as a major source of income. They're what turned Fight Club from flop to hit, they're what got sequels commisioned for Hulk and LXG. They are HUGELY important.

And, as has also been pointed out, the film has yet to be release din Europe, which is easily one of the largest markets outside of the US and could see the film double its theatrical B.O. And that's WITHOUT its ancillary sales. Please stop banging on basing your posts on half-baked assumptions.

Originally posted by dr beavishe needs wrestling and wrestling fans more than ever with the way the rundown flopped. if he chalks up another bomb with walking tall, how in demand is he going to be then?

Why the hell are you saying he 'needs' wrestling more than ever since his movies are flopping? The man is a multi-millionare and could sit on his oddly-hairlined bum for the rest of his life and burn hundreds if he wanted to.

right, and i'm sure that's exactly what will happen. he'll walk away a failure because, hey, he has money.

are some of you in denial?

Are you trying to say that if Rock's movie's don't do so great, he needs to come back to wrestling or else he will be a failure? Does anybody here think The Rock and failure even belong in the same sentence? The man is a success, even if his movies aren't the best, he's not gonna go hide under a rock (no pun intended) in shame. He is a success, and my point still stands - he literally can burn hundred dollar bills the rest of his life and still be set. And not just with money - with his legacy. He really doesn't NEED anything, that's the main point I'm making here. He doesn't NEED money, he doesn't NEED to prove himself as a wrestler, and hell, he has already crossed over into Hollywood. It's been done.